Monday, Aug. 17 was a historic moment in North Carolina. A small county, population 173,000, became the first in the state to protect our daughters. The Catawba County School Board passed a resolution requiring that all multi-use bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower rooms in K-12 public schools be designated by biological sex. There were no protests. There was no outrage. In fact, not a single person spoke in opposition to the policy.
For quite some time, the gender ideology movement has taken control of public policy in this country at the expense of our children. The medical establishment has kowtowed to “experts” touting pseudoscience claiming that gender transitioning — which starts with social interventions and then moves to chemical mutilation for most and even surgical mutilation for some —is a good thing. We now know the lifelong medical damage these procedures cause and the suicide rates that have skyrocketed as a result of it. Administrators, coaches, and politicians around the country have allowed boys to invade women’s sports, and we have seen how that has robbed women and girls of fairness and safety in competition. Girls are being denied scholarships and are being physically hurt, sometimes permanently, because of it.
Thankfully, after seeing the damage, people are beginning to wake up. The majority of states now ban gender transitioning for minors and require biological segregation on sports teams. North Carolina passed both laws in 2023.
The last frontier is vulnerable spaces. Girls are suffering across the country as boys are taking over their bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers, denying these girls their right to privacy and safety. They are afraid to use the restrooms and locker rooms. There have been cases of sexual assault.
The problem continues to fester right here in North Carolina. There have been reported cases, even in elementary schools, of boys entering girls’ private facilities in Union County, Wake County, Orange County, Buncombe County, Cabarrus County, Henderson County, and the list goes on. Ironically, many are not “gender-confused” boys.
As one father told me, these are “boys with beards wearing cargo shorts.” The boys are loitering in girls’ vulnerable spaces and gawking at the girls in their most vulnerable situations. North Carolina girls have told me they are afraid to change their clothes in the locker rooms or use the bathroom facilities. Reportedly, in Buncombe County, there was a sexual assault. In Cabarrus, reportedly, the boys have exposed themselves to the girls.
Across the state, parents and young girls have pleaded with school boards to help. Yet, the school boards have callously turned their backs on these parents and girls, wrung their hands, and claimed there is nothing they can do.
Amidst this paralysis among many county school boards around the state, Catawba County shines a light of hope for these girls and their families. They have stood in the gap to restore dignity and safety to a vulnerable population.
Thank you to Catawba County School Board members. It is my hope that the brave actions of this county will fortify others— and the North Carolina General Assembly — to do the same.
